Minority rights
Court on the side of the unaided
The Supreme Court judgement on admissions to private professional educational institutions is welcome for various reasons. Unaided minority and non-minority institutions can particularly feel relieved as the court has held that they have an “unfettered fundamental right” to admit students of their choice in medicine, engineering and other professional courses without government interference.

Lanka under siege
Kadirgamar killing is a grim pointer
The assassination of Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar is a grim reminder that terrorism continues to stalk the island republic. If there had been no assassination of prominent mainstream politicians lately, it was not because terrorists had given up the extreme option; but only because they had been keeping their powder dry.

Stinking shame
When medical waste becomes a hazard
Instead of treating patients, the Civil Hospitals in Ropar and Mohali are neglecting what is in their interest. They are not even properly disposing of their medical waste, as has been highlighted by the Punjab Pollution Control Board. Officials of the board have found that the machinery meant to be used for waste disposal has not been working properly.

Mishandling of Nanavati ReportCongress has missed the chance to make amends
by Dr Amrik Singh
That even the far-from-adequate Nanavati Report was in danger of being mishandled became clear when it was decided not to table it in Parliament soon after its submission in February this year. Furthermore, its presentation was delayed up to the last day possible.

Monsoon magic
by Ramesh Luthra
Moments ago it was bright sunshine accompanied by scorching heat. Making the earth a virtual inferno. Lo! In no time dark clouds hovered all over the sky flying fast with the wind. Sweet rumblings of concealed vapours. Pleasant coolness in the atmosphere all around. A few drops fall here and there... Then a whole lot of them ... Pitter patter ... Pitter patter of much awaited monsoons.

The independent judgeby Fali S. Nariman
The ultimate saviour of an independent judiciary is
the brave, individual judge — if fear is infectious, so is
fearlessness! It is because of the fearlessness of some judges (and
not their learning) that we fondly remember them.

Truth and reconciliation
by Brig H.S. Sodhi
The assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was an unfortunate and sad event. This was, however, built into Operation Bluestar.

The Supreme Court judgement on admissions to private professional educational institutions is welcome for various reasons. Unaided minority and non-minority institutions can particularly feel relieved as the court has held that they have an “unfettered fundamental right” to admit students of their choice in medicine, engineering and other professional courses without government interference. They will also be free from government quotas. In the landmark judgement, the court has ruled that the state governments cannot impose any reservation policy on unaided professional institutions as it would encroach on their right and autonomy. Moreover, while these institutions can have their own admission procedures, according to the judgement, these have to be fair, transparent, equitable and non-exploitative. The admissions should be regulated by a centralised common entrance test either at the state or national level. The court has allowed a 15 per cent quota only for bona fide children of non-resident Indians and suggested legislation to prevent the misuse of this quota.

Undoubtedly, the ruling has the potential to increase competition among educational institutions and, in the long run, enhance the quality of education in medical and engineering colleges. The removal of state-imposed quotas should facilitate free flow of students and increase competition. Those institutions conscious of quality and excellence would be able to invest in infrastructure and faculty improvement.

However, doubts arise regarding the court’s suggestion for committees to regulate admissions to unaided institutions and help them fix their fee. It maintained that such committees will also ensure that capitation fees, which are already banned, and profiteering are not allowed in any form. However, it is not clear who will set up these committees, whether there will be just one Central panel for the entire country or one for every unaided institution, and whether the college managements will have representation on these committees. If the state government forms such committees, would this not allow it to meddle in the affairs of the unaided colleges? Such interference may also dilute the institutions’ “unfettered right” that the court has very rightly restored. The principle which the court has laid down for guiding the admission in these institutions could also get vitiated if the proposed committees are not set up properly or their functioning is not transparent.

The assassination of Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar is a grim reminder that terrorism continues to stalk the island republic. If there had been no assassination of prominent mainstream politicians lately, it was not because terrorists had given up the extreme option; but only because they had been keeping their powder dry. A sniper attack of this kind could have succeeded only after much practice. In the immediate aftermath, as Sri Lanka reels under shock and fear, President Chandrika Kumaratunga had little choice but to declare a state of emergency. Few, at home or abroad, would dispute that this recrudescence of wanton terrorism calls for the sternest of measures. Ms Kumaratunga herself was the victim of an assassination attempt, which she survived with the loss of vision in one eye.

Despite the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels hastening to deny their involvement in the assassination of Kadirgamar, the Government of Sri Lanka’s assertion that the Tigers are prime suspects carries more credence. More than the question of which terrorist outfit killed Kadirgamar, the danger is that the strife-torn island is again on a knife-edge, after the truce between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam since 2002. The stark message is that terrorism is back, fraught with all its implications for the revival of the Tamil-Sinhala conflict that ravaged the island for 19 years and claimed nearly 64,000 lives. It may be no coincidence that Kadirgamar, who topped the LTTE’s hit list, was killed within days of escalating tensions between the government and the Tigers; and that too when the latter have been threatening to revive the civil war.

Sri Lanka has once again been cast adrift in a treacherous sea of uncertainties. The peace process, already under strain after being stalled by the LTTE’s obduracy, would be severely tested now. The killing has vitiated normal democratic politics and it would take much more than political acumen and administrative resolve for President Kumaratunga to steer an already fractured Sri Lanka out of this sclerotic seizure.

Instead of treating patients, the Civil Hospitals in Ropar and Mohali are neglecting what is in their interest. They are not even properly disposing of their medical waste, as has been highlighted by the Punjab Pollution Control Board. Officials of the board have found that the machinery meant to be used for waste disposal has not been working properly. To make matters worse, two teenagers were engaged in sorting out syringes, needles, etc, without any protective gear like gloves. This is a serious lapse on the part of the hospital authorities, who now face action for the violation of the Environment Protection Act. If found guilty, they could be punished severely. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. There have been several instances of violations of the Biological Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules all over the county, even in Delhi and Chandigarh.

The incinerators required for the purpose are seldom installed, largely because of their high cost, and even if these are installed, these often do not work, because of either bad maintenance or indifference. Food and fowl produced near such incinerators have a high concentration of carcinogenic dioxins. The Supreme Court has rightly asked for phasing out incinerators and also for proper and scientific treatment of biomedical waste, out of which only 15 per cent is hazardous. It needs to be segregated and treated. Of late, the disposal of medical waste has been outsourced to private companies. These, too, should be checked rigorously to ensure that right standards are maintained. What is still worrying, however, is that, according to an estimate, 40 per cent of the hospitals in the region have not registered with biomedical treatment plants. Disposal of waste must be checked by all hospitals and all those guilty of violating the rules punished.

Some books are undeservedly forgotten; none are undeservedly remembered.

— W.H. Auden

ARTICLE

Mishandling of Nanavati ReportCongress has missed the chance to make amends
by Dr Amrik Singh

That even the far-from-adequate Nanavati Report was in danger of being mishandled became clear when it was decided not to table it in Parliament soon after its submission in February this year. Furthermore, its presentation was delayed up to the last day possible. The intention evidently was to push things under the carpet. That this did not come about is another thing. The entire controversy shows that the UPA government initially misjudged the entire issue.

The issue was not only that several thousand people had been killed in a riot and so much worse had happened. The issue was and is whether there would be rule of law in the country. Action-taking on the report should have been an occasion to reverse the series of mistakes made by the Congress during the last few decades. What had been totally neglected was an improvement of the police system or of the working of the judiciary over the years. Was that right? Was that constructive? More than that, was that the direction in which the country ought to be moving?

There are a number of related questions which can be asked but need not be asked. The inescapable fact is that for more than a quarter century the government in power had mishandled the basic issue of how to eradicate
poverty. When this fact of the unredeemed failure started catching up with it, a wayout was found; and that was to play upon the Hindu sentiment.

To put it bluntly, the Congress party, which had so far been secular in its approach, now decided to deviate from it in the interest of sheer survival. The electoral reverses in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in the early eighties had set the alarm bells ringing and the wayout was seen to be to play the Hindu card. What happened in 1984 (the Prime Minister’s murder and all that) was the logical culmination of the policy evolved a little earlier.

All this is known and does not have to be dilated upon. What needs to be underlined, however, is that this policy of playing the Hindu card eventually led to the Congress losing power. Earlier, the failure to develop the country had created widespread disillusionment and now the Congress made things worse for itself when it started to compete with the BJP for Hindu support. This game began in the eighties and continued up to the day the BJP captured power. It was a game which the Congress was bound to lose and that is exactly what happened.

The principal significance of the 2004 election was that the BJP, having ruled the country in alliance with some other parties, got dethroned from power. Till it actually happened, no one had anticipated that it was likely to happen. Once it happened, a new process of political churning got under way. The message to the Congress was unambiguous: if it wanted to stay in power it had to set its house in order.

The mishandling of the Nanavati Report essentially lay in the Congress failure in understanding this key point. The victory of 2004 was not a victory which was either decisive or could be taken for granted. On top of it, the BJP has done everything to make things worse for itself and has so far mishandled the situation. But is the Congress giving a better account of itself now?

The task before the Congress is how to consolidate and deepen its hold. Two things require to be done. One is to answer the question where it had gone wrong during the preceding couple of decades and, secondly, how to ensure that it stays in power and does not permit the BJP to return to power. Has it done those two things?

It has done nothing of the kind so far. It continues to function as it used to before the unexpected victory came its way. Perhaps, the only difference between its current mode of functioning and its earlier mode lies in this that it has, to quite an extent, cured itself of its tendency to play the Hindu card. But this is putting it negatively. What the Congress should have done was to analyse its past mistakes, draw the appropriate conclusions from it and recast its working as also its organisation in such a manner that it was in no danger of going out of power once again.

If this objective was to be achieved, the only way forward was to formulate a new mode of functioning for itself, and so arrange things that in terms of governance, it overcame its traditional weaknesses. That is not happening. In consequence, we have neither good governance nor the kind of economic dynamism that would give us a feeling that the past is dead and buried and now we will be entering a new era of growth and vitality.

On the other hand, when the Nanavati Report came, the Congress reacted in a mechanical kind of way. What needs to be remembered is that the basic issue in the countryside as also in the inexorably expanding urban India is that governance is improved. This in turn will help us to also perform better economically. If these two things can be done during the next few years, the situation will start changing and the Congress position will become impregnable, if one may venture to say so.

But this is not happening because the Congress has failed to understand one thing. Governance can never be improved without these two things happening and in a positive way. One is improved police performance and the other is the reform of the judiciary. Likely enough, these two developments will also weaken and undermine the fact of corruption with which we have lived for such a long time. Both these dimensions of governance have gone down sharply over the years and need to be taken care of decisively and without any loss of time. If an occasion was awaited, the Nanavati Report provided it.

In the case of the 1984 killings in Delhi, for reasons which do not have to be gone into here, the matter had been neglected in a planned way. As many as nine committees and commissions had gone into it. Everyone knew what required to be done. The main significance of the Nanavati Report was that it provided an opportunity to the Congress to turn a new leaf in its career.

There are all kinds of weaknesses in this report. One obvious weakness is that it was supposed to cover the whole of India, indeed, wherever killings had taken place. Even when some of those affected in other towns submitted petitions, the commission did not find it convenient to look into them. But even in regard to Delhi, what it has done is nothing new or startling. It mainly repeated what the earlier commissions had been saying and in certain cases even ignored them.

The Congress almost missed this golden chance. Thereby it did two things. One, it missed the chance of improving the police and the judicial system of the country. That, however, can still be done. Secondly, it missed the chance of making amends for the past. Properly speaking, the Congress owes an apology to the country for having “misbehaved” in the past on several occasions; let us not forget what happened in Assam in 1982. But it could have recovered the position now and by implication done something of the kind suggested above. As stated above, it can do it even now though the difficulties in its way cannot be underrated. More than that, it would have sent out a signal that the Congress party is now not what it used to be.

The writer is a former Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala.

MIDDLE

Monsoon magic
by Ramesh Luthra

Moments ago it was bright sunshine accompanied by scorching heat. Making the earth a virtual inferno. Lo! In no time dark clouds hovered all over the sky flying fast with the wind. Sweet rumblings of concealed vapours. Pleasant coolness in the atmosphere all around. A few drops fall here and there... Then a whole lot of them ... Pitter patter ... Pitter patter of much awaited monsoons.

Anon I bid farewell to books. Damn care for them at such rare moments. Even if finals are to take place the next morning. I watch the pouring waters... an experience in itself. Beyond words. Like John Masefield not denying “the call of the running tide” goes to ‘the seas again’, too can’t resist the call of the heavenly waters. Hence tuck my jeans and am under the open skies. I join my cousins in enjoying the bliss of showers screaming and laughing hilariously. Drenched to the skin. Rather drenched to the core of our beings... “tan man sab bhiga”.

My goodness! puddles... So fascinating... Tiny pools all over the recently carpeted road! The aura of the pleasant weather impels me to thump the wet ground forcefully with shoes. Matching the rhythmical fall of the rain is the sound created by our feet. Could the picturesque scene be captured in the camera for eternity! We form a circle and dance like possessed humming “umar ghumar kar aai re ghata...”

Oops! these puddles provide me a rare deja vu. Surely nothing can beat the sheer joy of playing with puddles. A virtual ecstasy. Feel away from the mundane world. I find myself on cloud nine. Splash! Splash! you get closer to the very elements. Like a child splashing the tubful of water spiritedly along with creating strange noises expressing his joie de vivre. I strike puddles with both feet. Rest follow me. All besmeared we look at each other and burst in a guffaw. Real fun, indeed. Much to our joy a speeding car sprayed us with muddy water. Led to another giggling session.

Pedestrians walk wary of the puddles. Much to our amusement a young lady in high heels slipped in the puddles in the centre of the street. We helped her in getting up but couldn’t help laughing in sleeves. She too joined us. Showed her sense of humour. Hence the infectious laughter.

Our splashing water and singing full throated is marred by my urbanite mother’s shouting, “only yesterday I bought you Nikes... Devil, care a fig for me.. See when you come home.” Wish she too could feel the ‘masti’ of the “mousam”.

She cautioned me against getting boils. Pa, O’ he is really sweet. Seems he is deeply involved in the adventure I am indulging in. Seems a wave of nostalgia has swept over him. May be he is lost in boyhood pranks he had in the native village which he loves to recount very joyously. “Never mind, carry on child. Make the best of time.” I waved at him smilingly which he returned graciously. I saw mom staring hard at him, banged the door and went in.

OPED

The independent judgeby Fali S. Nariman

The ultimate saviour of an independent judiciary is
the brave, individual judge — if fear is infectious, so is
fearlessness! It is because of the fearlessness of some judges (and
not their learning) that we fondly remember them.

During the Emergency in June 1975, Justice D.M.
Chandrashekar of Karnataka would direct detenus detained under
preventive detention laws to be brought to the Court at the time of
hearing of their cases: not just because that was the lawful thing to
do — it is, "habeas corpus" in Latin literally means
"produce the body" - he did it simply to help the detenus
breathe some fresh air, get out of jail and meet their relatives,
friends, and lawyers! That was his great concern — not for the
letter of the law but for the liberty and feelings of citizens!

Chandraehekhar was transferred (as a punitive measure)
from Karnataka to Allahabad, and since he was the senior most judge,
he became the Chief Justice of Allahabad. In those days there were no
planes and Chandrashekhar took the train from Bangalore. None of his
colleagues came to the railway station to send him off, for fear of
being seen, except Justice Malimath of Allahabad.

Justice Khare, who later became Chief Justice of
India, has fond memories of the Chief Justiceship of Chandrashekhar.
He said that Chandrashekar was refreshingly polite and charming whilst
being completely fearless and independent. Khare was a good judge of
men and matters and good men always respect other good men.
Incidentally, after the Emergency was lifted in 1977 and Chandrashekar
was transferred back (at his request) to his home state, where he
assumed office as Chief Justice of Karnataka, the entire complement of
judges in the High Court came to receive and fete him. That only
proves that not only are judges human but that fear and flattery are
human failings.

The only good thing about the Emergency was the
experience of judges who were transferred to other High Courts —
their experience was a happy one. They were very well received in the
High Courts to which they were transferred — like Chandrashekar from
Bangalore to Allahabad, Justice Vimadalal from Bombay to Andhra
Pradesh, and Justice Rangarajan from Delhi to Gauwahati.

There were — there always have been — individual
judges who successfully resisted pressures of all kinds. And we in
India have had a rich tradition of independent judges.

If you go to Delhi and visit the Court of the Chief
Justice of India, you will see the portrait of Justice Bijan Kumar
Mukherjea. He sat as a judge of the Supreme Court when it was
inaugurated on January 26, 1950. He was among India's great judges,
not only because he was erudite and delivered land-mark judgments, but
because he established a glorious tradition of independence by
refusing Prime Minister Nehru's offer that he become Chief Justice
before his time — i.e. immediately after the retirement of Chief
Justice Patanjali Sastri, thus superseding the next senior-most Judge
Mehr Chand Mahajan. The Government of the day did not fancy appointing
Mahajan as Chief Justice. But Mukherjea was made of stern stuff — he
let it be known that he would rather resign, than accept the
Government's offer.

The Government quickly backed down; in his turn of
seniority Mahajan became Chief Justice of India and Mukherjea became
CJI only after Mahajan retired in December 1954.

Justice H. R. Khanna's portrait (regrettably not true
to life) hangs in Court No.2 where he sat till the end of January
1977. He is my hero. One of the things he is remembered for is his
contribution to the doctrine of "Basic Structure". (Simply
put, the "doctrine" as evolved by the Court was that the
power to amend the Constitution conferred by Article 368, wide as it
was, did not include the power to abrogate the Constitution or alter
its basic structure or framework.) He was passed over when his turn
came to be CJI, the second such instance in our Constitutional
history.

But Khanna is most remembered and revered for the
minority judgment in the ADM Jabalpur, on 28th April, 1976. When the
Supreme Court (by its majority judgment 4:1- in the ADM Jabalpur) put
out the lamps of liberty during the dark days of the Emergency, it was
Khanna who stood firm as a rock. Khanna would have no truck with
tyranny — and he said so: even if that meant that he had to
sacrifice his future Chief Justiceship.

As is customary, the CJI before his retirement
recommends as his successor the next senior-most Judge. But Chief
Justice A. N. Ray departed from this well established constitutional
convention and recommended Justice M.H. Beg (judge No.3) as the
incoming Chief Justice. The Government of the day promptly accepted
the recommendation; and Khanna (equally promptly) resigned. After he
resigned Nani Palkhivala wrote an article about Khanna in which he
cited a poem. I repeat it because every word of it also applies to
Chandrashekar and all the brave judges we have had during the internal
Emergency and after:

God give us Men! A time like this demands

Strong minds, great hearts,

true faith and ready hands,

Men whom the lust of office does not kill;

Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;

Men who possess opinions and a will;

Men who have honour;

Men who will not lie;

Men who can stand before a demagogue.

And damn his treacherous flatteries

without winking

Tall Men, sun-crowned,

who live above the fog

In public duty and in private thinking.

How can judges — individual judges — resist
political pressures and yet function in an independent manner? A good
beginning would be by not mouthing clich`E9s about judicial
independence, but by doing the right thing at the right time! Sir
Harry Gibbs was Chief Justice of Australia in the nineteen eighties
— some of them trying years during which allegations of a grave
nature were made against one of his senior colleagues (Justice Murphy)
on the High Court. When asked how he would define an ‘independent
judge’, his answer, characteristically brief, was:

"That Judge who has nothing to hope for, nothing
to fear, in respect of anything done in the performance of his
judicial functions, that Judge who is able successfully to resist
pressures of any kind."

Judges all round the world are expected to do just
that — whatever the legal or political systems under which they
function, and howsoever they are appointed.

Principles, conclusions, precepts about judicial
independence all make good reading and set healthy trends. In the end,
however, it is the fearless, independent judge — even if he be one
amongst many — who really and truly helps to preserve the species.

The assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was an unfortunate and sad event. This was, however, built into Operation Bluestar. This operation, and some other political events of the same period, was the outcome of the usual political mindset of wanting to gain or retain the kursi at any cost.

The assassination led to the horrible mass killings of thousands of Sikhs, mainly in Delhi. The sentiment of those in power was well described by the comment made by a senior Congress leader to the effect that when a big tree falls the earth shakes. The outcry that resulted has let to a number of commissions of inquiry and their reports, with the most recent one being the Nanavati report.

All of them have led to little in the way of punishing the culprits, even if called for in the report. Some general aspects of the contents of the Nanavati report have come out in the media. The Action Taken Report in respect of the Nanavati report is along the same lines: no action. This should come as a relief to the BJP government in Gujarat as the report in respect of the riots and killings there can be treated in the same evasive manner — or be dubbed as having double standards of judgement.

The government comes out as only interested in holding on to power and hence the various compromises and evasions. The one whose reputation suffers the most is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He is rightly accepted by all as a very upright and honest individual. There is, however, the question of both law and ethical values. Our law — and normal ethical and moral values — dictate that any one aiding and abetting a crime also becomes a part of it. Here it is taken a step further in an attempt to condone the culprit, and all for personal gain. The Prime Minister should have had the moral strength to either stand firm to his honest beliefs or resign. He is already considered by many to be a weak Prime Minister, especially in internal affairs, and the Action Taken Report tends to confirm it.

An important aspect left out by all the reports including the latest is the delay in calling out the Army. Why was there any delay in getting the Army deployed in Delhi? Was this deliberate? It would be interesting to know from Army HQ the date and time that it received the orders for deployment and when was this actually in position. Some years after the event, I heard from a very reliable source that the Army had initially ordered a brigade from Meerut to move to Delhi but this was soon cancelled. Reason: the composition was found to have too large a proportion of Sikhs!

Orders were then issued for the move of a brigade from Dehra Dun, which led to a delay of nearly 36 hours. Is this correct? The Army should clarify these points. It would be a sad reflection on the Army thinking at that time if religion/caste/community became the deciding factor during deployment.

All these inquiries have led to a lot of waste of time and money with no commensurate results. A halt needs to be called to such delaying tactics by the government. Those affected by the riots should be given due compensation to start a new life. To get the community relationship back to some semblance of amity, the need is for a `Truth and Reconciliation Commission' where the culprits confess or tell the truth without fear of further persecution, and the affected have the opportunity to have their say.

Sushma Swaraj decked up in her traditional Karvachauth
best`85 Heavy silk sari, bangles, bright red lipstick and sindoor, swinging
away on a swing at a Teej function. This was Mukhtaar Abbas Naqvi's
house. Teej is a festival of swings which announces the advent of monsoon
season in North India. Naqvi had no doubt organized a vibrant evening with
traditional songs, mehndi and dances, and chaat food stalls. The lawns were a
bright orange and white. There were hordes of BJP wives swooning all around
Sushmaji as it is rumoured she may be the next President of the party. I am
betting on Raj Nath Singh, though.

But the queen of the evening was Jayaprada. Dressed in purple,
her smile was enough to light up the evening for the few men present. There
was former CBI Director Joginder Singh and KPS Gill just getting over his
controversy over his interest in women. The Pant Marg BJP office was a flood
of colours too. The Mahila Morcha for a change did not gather for a
demonstration but an evening of fun for Teej Mela with tilak, rose
petals, etc. Here Sushma Behenji stole the show with her ghumaria dance to a
Rajasthani folk song. While L.K. Advani took a back seat here as usual, it was
his wife Kamlaji who rose to the occasion and swung with gusto.

Wooing the leader

In New Delhi one is busy watching who is trying to woo the
Gandhi heir. Young MP's are now resorting to scientific methods to woo Rahul
Gandhi. An MP from Delhi has prepared a blueprint for the party's revival in
U.P. But he has nothing to do with U.P. Another lady MLA from Haryana is
trying to win Rahul's confidence by keeping him updated on the latest gadgets.
The young parliamentarians are trying their best to find out what are the
likes and dislikes of the young Gandhi. The help of the staff and various
faithfuls are obtained in this regard. How easily the gullible are fooled.

On the other hand a daughter seems to be rising in the BJP.
Pratiba Advani has now become a subject of whispers. It is said that she has a
database of party workers ready in her computer and that she is in touch with
active Advani loyalists. Hence controversies and unsavoury gossip are being
invented about her penchant for shopping and financial dealings and assets.
So, after Dushyant Singh and Manvendra Singh we may see a daughter rise. And
why not? Dynasty rules.

Political infamy

Jagdish Tytler embarrassed his party for three full days. If
he had resigned as soon as the Nanavati report was out, on moral grounds, he
would have had a face-saving exit. If the emotional and embarrassed Sikh Prime
Minister or Mrs. Gandhi had asked for his resignation as soon as the report
was out, they would have had "Jai Jai Kar" all around.

The BJP, meanwhile, is still shameless in not even referring to Gujarat.
Wonder with what face they talk about the Delhi riots. After all, there is
neither political pragmatism nor moral justification in not sacking leaders
who spearhead crime against innocents and bring eternal infamy to the party.

Our readers are aware that the Mysore Government has made a splendid offer of land and money to the proposed Tata University of Research in order to secure its location at Bangalore, and make that capital a centre of culture and enlightenment for the honour of which Bombay is vying. The Mysore Durbar has taken another and more heroic step which, by its results, is likely to demonstrate to the world not merely the right of the State to be called the “premier” State in the Empire, but a degree of progress achieved under its judicious system of self-Government entitling it to a foremost place among the provinces in India. This step consists in the undertaking of a scheme for utilising the Cauvery Falls to work the mines of the Kolar Goldfields.

The capital outlay is estimated at about £ 2,88,000 or 43 lakhs of rupees, and an idea of the importance of the scheme may be gathered from the fact that the Mysore Government expects a profit from it amounting to £ 5,24,811, or nearly 80 lakhs of rupees in 10 years, while it has been estimated that the mines will save £ 5,72,000, or about 85 lakhs in working expenses.

Religion is a candle inside a multicoloured lantern. Everyone looks through a particular colour, but the candle is always there.

— Book of quotations on Religion

I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. You don’t grasp the fact that what is most alive of all inside your own house and you walk from one holy city to the next completely confused!

— Kabir

Every object has some life, even inanimate ones. So treat all with respect.

— The Upanishads

The strong should not be proud. Their strength has come from God and should be used for good purpose only. Misused, it will desert them in the hour of greatest need. Oppressors have died ignominious deaths because they did not realise this.

— The Mahabharata

And be as apprehensive as those who leave behind them helpless children. Fear for them: and be wary of God, And speak to them
fittingly.